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Earthgov
Earthgov was the central government of the Earth Alliance headquartered at Earth Dome in Geneva, Switzerland. Governmental structure The Earth Alliance is a Multi-Tiered Democratic Republic and is governed as a whole through a balance of power between a regionally elected representative body called the Senate, a President elected by the Alliance population as a whole, and a Judicial Branch. Both the Senate, and the President have offices in the Earth Alliance Capitol Earthdome, located in Geneva, Switzerland, Earth.The Official Guide to Babylon 5 (CD ROM) Executive Branch The executive branch of Earthgov is overseen by the EA President, who also serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the military, and as the head of state. The President is also responsible for setting foreign policy, is the chief ambassador to other worlds and can appoint diplomatic envoys to represent Earth policy in it's foreign embassy's. The President's term of office is four years, with elections taking place in February.Midnight on the Firing Line In the event that the President is incapacitated or killed the Vice President takes over and is sworn in for the remainder of the current term, after which the former Vice President must stand for re-election.Revelations This took place not once, but twice in the 2258 - 2262 term when President Luis Santiago, who beat challenger Marie Crane in the 2258 election was killed when Earthforce One exploded near Io shortly after new years, 2259. Then Vice President William Morgan Clark was sworn in and served until November 2nd, 2261 at which point he committed suicide rather than face trial and impeachment for arranging Santiago's assassination and the ordering of numerous war crimes. Susanna Luchenko of the Russian Consortium was then elected by the Senate to serve out the remainder of the term of Presidents Santiago and Clark until she was re-elected by popular vote in February 2262. During President Clark's regime, in instituted sweeping changes across the Earth government, including increasing the judicial powers of the Psi Corps and created several new institutions that shifted the balance of power dramatically in his favour, causing the Alliance to gradually slide into a totalitarian dictatorship. Among his new institutions were the Ministry of Peace and it's infamous Nightwatch Division (a volunteer paramilitary organization which became the secret police of Clark's New Order), the Ministry of Truth and the Ministry of Information, which eventually became Clark's propaganda arm, fronted by ISN, which had been forcible put under government control shortly after the Proxima III and Orion VII declarations of independence.Severed DreamsPoint of No ReturnThe Illusion of TruthNo Surrender, No Retreat This was the culmination of a string of events that began with an incident which involved John Sheridan incident involving an alien ship at Ganymede Following Clark's suicide at the close of the Earth Alliance Civil War, many of the changes he instituted were reversed, though some of the involved parties managed to remain in government.Rising StarAppearances and Other Deceits Earth Senate The Earth Senate is the Legislative Branch of Earthgov and makes up the central body of the EA government. The Senate is comprised of representatives elected from each of the Earth Alliance member states, such as the Russian Consortium, the Indonesian Consortium and (from 2262 onwards) the independent colony worlds such as Mars. Alongside these are The Vice President of the Earth Alliance the President of the EA Senate. In 2260 the Senate held hearings into Morgan Clark's purported healthiness and departure from Earthforce One shortly before it exploded. In retaliation Clark declared Martial lawPoints of Departure and eventually dissolved the senate which he reformed with many of his own people in their place. Senator Crosby led the march on capturing President Clark at the end of the Civil War. Judicial Branch Judicial Branch, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate is the Earth Alliance's primary means of arbitration between two or more member countries or crimes involving the death of an EA citizen. Ombudsmen are appointed by the higher courts and are responsible for the districts under their jurisdiction. Above the Ombudsmen are appeals courts where lower courts decisions can be reviewed, after which is Final Appeal, which, in serious cases may be heard by the Senate Appeal Board. Different planets in the Alliance and often different regions on a given planet are governed by semi-autonomous local governments which are usually some variation of Earth Alliance democracy. Some regions of Earth have three or four distinct levels of governments, each with a specific jurisdiction (city, province or region) or purpose.The Official Guide to Babylon 5 (CD ROM) References